


Just Another Day?

by d1m1tr33



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: (nothing too serious but a character experiences similar symptoms at some point), F/M, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:22:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27598178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/d1m1tr33/pseuds/d1m1tr33
Summary: Strange things are happening in Domino.(Prompt: Sailor Moon & Yu-Gi-Oh! crossover)
Relationships: Kaiba Seto/Mazaki Anzu | Tea Gardner
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4
Collections: Yu-Gi-Oh! It's Time to G-G-G-Gift! [Mini-Exchange]





	Just Another Day?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Azurite](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azurite/gifts).



> I had a lot of fun writing this! I'll get on uploading and finishing up the second chapter as soon as I can, the work may be edited a few times as I go back and fix up some things.

Tokyo is boring, she decides. _Very_ much so. 

You’d think the capital of a country is the best place to look for exceptional people. Specifically, anyone interesting enough to use. But all she finds is disappointment, her victims dropping one after the other. Her most recent one was just that: an up-and-coming politician, whose potential turned to ash as soon as she got hold of the man. By the time the Sailor Scouts arrived to clean up her mess, she decided she couldn’t be bothered with Tokyo anymore. The universe only confirms that when she finds herself standing at a crossing, surrounded by nothing but salarymen and schoolchildren. And speaking of schoolchildren…

She overhears a conversation. “I can’t _believe_ Battle City is ending so soon! I never catch it when it’s on!” Exclaims one boy in junior high uniform, tripping over his words.

A second one chimes in. “No kidding… I hope Seto Kaiba pulls something like this again next year! Did you _see_ them duel? It’s so much better than those boring soccer matches my dad likes…”

“Maybe we can save up for a trip to Domino…” The conversation drifts off, but that’s all she needs.

Maybe she’s getting desperate, but right now, this place sounds exactly like what she needs.

* * *

Elsewhere, a regional train is packed with sleepy high schoolers. 

"This trip is going to be _incredible_ if I can take a closer look at all the tech…” Ami muses with a smile, as she looks over the flashy pamphlets their teacher is handing out. “I wonder if Kaibacorp publishes their patents somewhere…” A far-off possibility, given how secretive everything is around the company, but hey, she can always hope for new advances in medicine, or a faster internet connection.

Though the rest of the girls don’t care much for technology, they share her excitement anyway. It’s not often they get to go _anywhere_ , let alone so far away. Protecting Tokyo was a thankless job, and while their classmates are relaxing somewhere beyond the capital, they always stay behind to make sure it doesn’t fall apart without them. So when they heard that the school was planning to visit Domino City, they were practically the first ones to scribble their names on the attendance list.

Thankfully they haven’t had an attack for a while, and Haruka and Michiru pitched in to keep watch while they’re away, to everyone’s relief. Luna pokes her head out of Usagi’s bag, wary of the faculty, but even she can’t hide the excitement of roaming around new streets and parks. For once, there’s no sense of looming danger, no anxiety. Silently, she wonders how long that’ll last. Nothing is ever this easy on their trips, after all.

But right now, Usagi’s flipping through her favorite manga, Makoto and Rei are glued to the windows, and Minako’s trying to get a peek at Ami’s pamphlets. She can’t bring herself to stop the normalcy of it all.

Luna dives back into the bag when she hears the teacher approaching.

* * *

Domino is smaller than Tokyo, but somehow it’s brimming with twice its energy, and she understands why as soon as she’s there. The city sticks out like a wayward nail amid the rest of Japan, and the people it attracts are no less unique. The air here is _bursting_ with human emotion, their dreams, their highs and lows, oh it absolutely enthralls her!

“Battle City” as the teenagers had called it, is already over by the time she arrives. But there’s still much talk of it, and not before long she catches one of the many reruns on the big screen. The “duels” as she understands they’re called, are quite exciting to watch. She remembers the adrenaline rush from fighting and wonders if that’s the same reason these humans clash with each other in such elaborate ways.

Locals here and there provide small tidbits of info, about the tournament and the man behind it. Seto Kaiba, a young CEO (some would argue too young to lead a company, let alone a city) obsessed with dueling and its technology. She hears stories upon stories of his escapades in Duel Monsters, but not much beyond that. There are many speculations about him, but so far he’s denied every single interview and unnecessary appearance in media. The only time he’s in public is for a duel or a corporate announcement. So, she pours over all the recordings she gets her hands on.

Beneath the dramatics and his cynicism, she senses something else. A strange heart this is, for sure. Outside of what she usually goes for, which makes it that much more interesting. She can’t help but giggle in apprehension.

* * *

It’s been a few days since the official end of the tournament. No matter what he felt then, Seto needs to get back to work. He’s still itching to go out there and find answers: there are so many questions on his mind, and the uncertainty makes him angrier by the minute. The further his rivalry with Yugi goes, the more he doubts the very nature of everything around him.

There’s also the matter of the press. He despises being prodded and torn apart for spectacle by those vultures (He almost hears Mokuba berate him: “The right word is “journalist”, Seto!”.). They’ve become a much bigger nuisance than before, and his briefings are clearly not enough anymore. When had he become a celebrity?

He does his best to push those thoughts away, and focuses on the tall stack of papers on his desk. Around this time of the year the company likes to hire interns, and he starts to look over the candidates. One immediately jumps out to him: a university graduate from Tokyo, with some of the best qualifications he’s seen in the past year. Her name has an odd ring to it, as do many other things about this application. Maybe it’s because he’s still mentally at that stadium, or it’s because he never trusts his intuition out of principle, but he ignores it.

He phones HR and tells them to set up an interview and doesn’t think about it any longer. 

He sees her a week later when he’s in a different company building, checking in on progress reports. He never followed up on that curious application, but the new face, running from cubicle to cubicle with paperwork, has a distinct Tokyo accent. She only poses to bow at a deep angle. He dismisses her before she opens her mouth.

“There’s no need for this. Focus on getting your work done.”

She watches him with an odd gaze, Seto thinks back to her _application_ , and then she’s off.

When there’s nothing left to do, he quietly slips outside, onto a quiet sidestreet. Mokuba’s called him twice today. He used to turn off his flip-hone during work to focus. He doesn’t anymore. He walks away from the prying eyes of the workers, but just as he’s out of view, a shiver runs down his spine. He feels eyes.

At first he couldn’t discern the feeling from his usual state of mind, but as the week progressed, he felt someone’s unfaltering presence all around him when he wasn’t at home or in his private office. It being that much stronger now disturbs him.

This is odd, for many reasons. Usually whatever weirdo wants his deck, money, or just to stab him for the sake of stabbing would have showed by now, but this person is taking their time. He doesn’t like his stalkers smart. He thinks about calling security. He _should_ call security but he’s not going to. He can sort this out by himself.

The silence is broken by a lot of things happening at once. He hears cars pull up, then a few people show up on bicycles, some just run. 

He realizes too late that they’re here for _him._

Seto barely managed to stash his phone before a journalist's camera blinds him, and a few others start uttering questions, surrounding him on all sides, pushing and pulling.

“How will you address the rumors-“

He manages to yell a “no comment” and shove three of them aside, but another five sprout in their place.

“Is Kaibacorp dealing with the military in secret-“

The flashes of the camera are disorienting up close. _This isn't normal._ He's encountered them like this before. It's never been this overwhelming. He tries to speak again, but it's as if someone glued his mouth shut. There seems to be no end to them.

“Do you deserve to inherit this company-“

Their words morph into one incoherent wail, as Seto tries to ground himself but can’t, everything is too much all at once, he almost forgets to breathe. Will he suffer defeat like this? He tries to gather his thoughts one last time, in time to understand someone yelling into his ear, their voice almost inhuman.

“How do you feel about _losing_ yet again-“

His fist connects with someone’s face. It's as if something shatters and he's back in reality, like a fog lifting off his surroundings. The few seconds of silence and shock is all he needs to shove them aside one last time and _run_.

He tries to remember where the main building is, but his mind is racing far too quickly to catch up. So, he takes off in a random direction, alleyway after alleyway, but the sound of clicking cameras never gets quieter.

That’s when he runs into someone, almost knocking them over.

“Kaiba?” The voice is familiar. “What are you- _Why_ are you-“

He doesn’t have time to explain when the chorus of voices and vehicles reach them. Anzu pulls him by his wrist to a different street, kicking someone’s camera to the ground in the process.

* * *

It doesn’t come as a surprise to Anzu that Kaiba does not like being in the news. Her childhood memories are interlaced with mentions of Kaibacorp on the radio, the TV, the newspapers her dad used to read. It was already a larger than life presence before he took over, and his current antics only cemented that in the public’s consciousness. It's a big reputation to live up to, and through all of the times they'd crossed ways, he always struck her as a private person unwilling to let anyone close. Which makes their current situation all the stranger.

Once she lead them to the main building, Kaiba had managed to get them both into his office through the back entrance. Neither of them noticed that Anzu’s still holding him by the wrist, and Kaiba only pulls away once his breathing is even, and some color returns to his face. He looks shaken and alert, and the calm expression he tries to project never reaches his eyes. She wants to say something, help him calm down, but he's on his phone as soon as he finds it in his coat, and practically tumbles into the desk chair. She takes the other chair nearest to his desk, taking in the room as she does. He pays little attention, too caught up in his phone.

Though the panic isn’t gone from his eyes, and his hands are just a bit jittery, his voice is as calm as ever as he orders security to surround the building and escort all of the “outsiders”. Then he calls his brother, foregoing to mention anything at all, only telling him that he’ll be home later than usual. There's a long pause where she faintly hears Mokuba on the other end, with Kaiba nodding along or asking everyday questions every now and then. By the time they've said their byes and Seto puts his phone down, the panic has seeped out of his eyes, and the jittering has stopped.

He's not _calm,_ however. Anzu’s dancer eyes immediately pick up on the tense, rigid posture, as if his entire body was on a tight rubber string close to snapping. It’s the same when he’s dueling, his movements are always precise but _forced_ , and she can already hear her instructor rattle off everything wrong with he way he's sitting.

Seto silently raises an eyebrow and she quickly looks away, realizing she's been watching him like this for 10 minutes now. She’s not here to give him dance lessons, who cares about his posture!

Now that the anxiety has somewhat settled, he looks exhausted. “You found this place really fast.” His voice doesn’t carry the same confidence it usually does.

“It’s hard to miss in this area, nobody builds these except for you… My dance studio is nearby. I was just on my way home when you ran into me.” _Crashed more than ran, really,_ she adds silently.

“Hm.”

Anzu doesn’t really know what to say. She can count the amount of times she’s talked to Kaiba like this on one hand, and it always ended in the span of five minutes or less. She could just say nothing and leave, once this is over. Would that be right? It wouldn’t be _unfair_. But that’s not who she is.

She finally musters up a sentence, trying to keep her voice even. “...Have they chased you like this before?"

"Mazaki, if they had, do you think we'd be having this conversation right now?" He retorts, with bitterness. "I assure you, I did not plan for this."

Ah, there it is. The usual.

She furrows her brows. "Well, do you know where they came from or how-"

" _No._ " It seems like he's getting more annoyed with each syllable. "I have no idea about any of this, if that's what you _need_ to hear." He stops short of outwardly glaring at her, turning in his seat to watch the skyline instead. The venom in his voice isn't deep, but it's the kind of tone he uses to tell Jounouchi off in their spats.

In the beginning, she might've had more patience for the CEO. But through the duels, trips, and plenty of other encounters, she's long given up on her usual approach, and sometimes she finds herself rolling her eyes out of reflex whenever he's particularly annoyed for no discernible reason.

"Hey, you're welcome by the way!" She says, raising her voice. That makes Kaiba turn back around, eyebrows raised in surprise this time. "You can't just act like I shouldn't be here, after I got us here in the first place." It's her turn to glare now, but her irritations run out quickly, and she tries to smooth out her expression.

"I know what this feels like, believe me." There is genuine sympathy in her voice now. "But lashing out at me for trying to help won't do you any solids, Kaiba."

He's taken aback, then irritated, then almost apologetic in the span of a few seconds. "Thank you." Before she has an opportunity to respond, he continues. "I've been chased by journalists before... _enough_ to know what to do. But this isn't normal." He glances back at the skyline, as if something might've been behind him just now. "There aren't usually this many and they're not... hands on."

She nods. The journalist whose camera she broke didn't even react to her. He had his eyes on Kaiba the entire time, as did every single other one of them, as if nothing else even existed for them.

"Maybe someone's put a curse on you." Anzu wonders, and it's a genuine suggestion, given everything _else_ she's experienced traveling with Yugi.

He only snorts in return. "Is this your idea of helping? Unreasonable guesses?"

"I'm not the one being _unreasonable_ not believing in the supernatural after everything I've seen." She fires in return, but there's no malice behind it. There's a small grin on her face when he can't come up with anything to respond with. Kaiba huffs in return. His posture is more relaxed now, even allowing himself to lean back in the chair a bit. 

The sun starts to set on Domino, barely touching the horizon. The office walls are engulfed in warm hues, putting her at ease. Kaiba's chair is turned towards the windows, watching the skyline slowly turn red. She silently walks up to the glass, leaning against a wall, watching the giant bulb of light slowly dive behind someone's apartment block. 

"I don't like attention." He admits, suddenly. "Hunting me down for interviews so that people can build some kind of cult of personality around me is annoying. It doesn't help me work." 

She could say all kinds of things right now. How this comes with running a company like his, how his own antics fuel the interest of the public, how present Kaibacorp has been in the lives of Domino citizens since before they were born, including herself. But for once he's open, and there's no fights to be won, they can just _be._

"I love dancing. Being on stage's been my dream as long as I remember." Anzu reminisces fondly, thinking back to the first time she convinced her parents to let her take a class in junior high. "But I don't want people to always have their eyes on me. I perform for myself, not for them. That's how you feel when you duel, right?" She's going out on a generous limb, but something's telling her it's the right one.

He stays silent for a long time, and she senses a sinking feeling within her gut, telling her this was a huge mistake, why would she open up to Seto Kaiba, of all people?

"...Yes." He finally says, not tearing his eyes away from the window.

The sun fully sets, enveloping the city in darkness for a few moments before the streetlamps turn on below.


End file.
